New career in medical field

[LuvOrlando]

Does anyone have experience in Diagnostic Medical Sonography? What are the pros and cons? How is the pay scale where you are located? If any of these questions, esp about pay, are too personal could you PM me. I am seriously considering this as a second career as my kids age out of school. The program I am looking at looks challenging and the pay high considering its only an 18 month program. But, I don't want to go wasting my time if there is no huge benefit because I already have a degree and can, theoretically, go back to NYC if I wanted to do so.

Any help would be great.

 

[DawnCt1]

Some of the sonography courses require a background in radiology technology, etc. If you can take an 18 month course without a lot of prerequisites, I would say that it is a very good field to get into. I believe that it pays well, depending upon where you live. Have you checked web sites that list pay scales, etc?

 

[MizTink]

i've been considering it also. i think around $28/hour pay to start in my area. i would love to find a way to do it in only 18 months. are you sure about that? would you be qualified to sit for the state licensing exams?
good luck.

 

[LuvOrlando]

There is an Associates for 24 months and a condensed version for people with the extra sciences etc already completed for 18 months. Yes, after this program I would be ready to sit for the certification examination. If you want details on the school PM me and I'll send it to you. I already have a BS and 2 Associates and did all my sciences in anticipation of being a NICU nurse when my kids were babies before an incident derailed me so I think I can do the shortened version. From what I can tell the full time salary for this field is $61,000 or so which is pretty fantastic considering I haven't worked for 10 years. I also think it's pretty amazing if all I have to do is pay for 2 years of Community College especially if that education tax break holds itself in place for me... talk about a good return on an investment. Of course, the courses look difficult with classes like Acoustic Physics and sectional Anatomy thrown in there but I did really well with all the Sciences for an RN so I am hopefully optimistic.

Trouble is I don't really know anything about the field.